Notable: USF's first half of the Big East season has been a huge drop-off from last year, and rebounding has been a major factor. The Bulls are last in the league in rebounding margin, but the Huskies are third worst. … The most glaring disparity between the teams: UConn leads the league at 72.4 points per conference game while USF is last at 53.1. … The Huskies have two elite scorers in Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright, challenging USF's perimeter defense. … Bulls freshmen JaVontae Hawkins and Zach LeDay are playing well as starters, but coach Stan Heath needs top scorers Victor Rudd, Toarlyn Fitzpatrick and Jawanza Poland to step up over the final five weeks of the regular season. … This is USF's first trip to Storrs since joining the Big East; previous meetings have been in Hartford. UConn leads 9-1.

Bucs offensive lineman Ali Marpet questioned the legality of the NFL's new policy that requires players to stand for the national anthem if they are on the field during the performance but gives them the option to remain in the locker room if t...

TAMPA — Disbelief will eventually give way to acceptance.The Lightning isn't there yet.It isn't there yet in a lot of ways.Will it ever be?Just wondering.Really, what guarantees are there?Late Wednesday night, Washington Capitals captain A...

TAMPA — Lightning fans were heading for the exits with three minutes remaining in Tampa Bay's 4-0 loss to Washington Wednesday in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final. Understandable given the disappointment of not reaching the Stanley C...

Its American Athletic Conference tournament hopes flat-lining, USF's baseball team has spent the past 30 or so hours reviving itself with plain ol' CPR.Clutch Pitching and Resolve.Needing back-to-back wins on a humid Clearwater day to remain alive, t...

Only four cities in the country have produced more four- or five-star prospects in the Rivals era than Tampa.That's according to a little number-crunching from Rivals' Mike Farrell.Tampa has produced 48 blue-chip prospects since the site began in 200...

Having lost a pair of close games, the Rays will try again tonight to beat the Red Sox, and will have LHP Blake Snell on the mound.SS Willy Adames is in the lineup for the Rays for the third and what is expected to be the final time before being sent...

The Bucs have reached an agreement on a contract with Washington defensive tackle Vita Vea, the team's first-round pick.Terms of the deal were not released, but Vea is expected to receive a four-year contract worth $14.82-million that includes ...

The dust has settled from another NFL draft, and Bucs general manager Jason Licht has made three promotions in his scouting department as a new year of player evaluation begins.Byron Kiefer, entering his 14th season with the Bucs and fourth as a nati...

TAMPA — Washington is on to Vegas. The Lightning is not. So we asked the Times' Lightning coverage team for the single biggest reason Tampa Bay isn't headed to the Stanley Cup final. Here's their answers:Roger Mooney, staff writer: Th...

TAMPA ó Hours before the puck drops at Amalie Arena for Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals, the ice crew boss talks about putting off any sign of the end for as long as possible."We donít want to see the front-end loaders," says Tom Miracle, who...